Why You Should Avoid Minimum Payments on Credit Cards
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- 2 min read
- Overall credit card debt amount decreased 11% since December 2010.
- Making even slightly more than minimum payments will slash your interest costs.
- Start your FREE debt assessment
Credit Card Balances Fall as People Avoid Minimum Payments
A recent study of credit card debt balances indicates many consumers make more than their minimum payments, which caused the overall credit card debt amount to decrease 11% since December 2010.
Credit Karma, a San Francisco-based Web site that provides credit scores to consumer, found that the average credit card debt amount is $6,576.
According to Credit Karma, the average consumer with an account in 2011:
- Kept home mortgage debt steady at $173,876
- Decreased home equity debt by 4% to $47,905
- Increased auto loans by 2% to $15,504
- Decreased student loan debt by 9% to $26,272
Consumers are learning the lesson that paying a credit card minimum payment is a certain way of increasing the cost of borrowing. The high cost of minimum credit card payments, in addition to the sober economy, are contributing to the lower balances Credit Karma found.
How expensive is it to make minimum payments? The Federal Reserve published the following example to illustrate the perils of credit card minimum payments:
| Minimum Payment Example | ||
|---|---|---|
| New balance | $3,000 | |
| Minimum payment due | $90 | |
| Payment due date | 4/20/12 | |
| Late Payment Warning: If we do not receive your minimum payment by the date listed above, you may have to pay a $35 late fee and your APRs may be increased up to the Penalty APR of 28.99%. | ||
| Minimum Payment Warning: If you make only the minimum payment each period, you will pay more in interest and it will take you longer to pay off your balance. For example: | ||
| If you make no additional charges using this card and each month you pay… | You will pay off the balance shown on this statement in about… | And you will end up paying an estimated total of… |
| Only the minimum payment | 11 years | $4,745 |
| $103 | 3 years | $3,712 (Savings = $1,033) |
Credit Card Minimum Payment Example
Under the Credit CARD Act of 2009, your monthly credit card bill must include information on how long it will take to pay off a balance if you only make minimum payments. It will also tell you how much you would need to pay each month to pay off your balance in three years.
Personalized Minimum Payments Calculator
To illustrate how easy it is to save a tremendous amount of interest expense by making even slightly more than minimum payments, Bills.com created a minimum payments calculator.
To see why paying the minimum amount is so expensive, enter your credit card debt and your interest rate into the Bills.com minimum payments calculator. Enter the amount you can afford to pay and find out how much faster you will be debt free and how much interest you will save by making the same payment every month.
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Take the first step towards a debt-free life with personalized debt reduction strategies.
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Dealing with debt
Debt is used to buy a home, pay for bills, buy a car, or pay for a college education. According to the NY Federal Reserve total household debt as of Q1 2024 was $17.69 trillion. Auto loan debt was $1.62 trillion and credit card was $1.12 trillion.
According to data gathered by Urban.org from a sample of credit reports, about 26% of people in the US have some kind of debt in collections. The median debt in collections is $1,739. Student loans and auto loans are common types of debt. Of people holding student debt, approximately 10% had student loans in collections. The national Auto/Retail debt delinquency rate was 4%.
Each state has its rate of delinquency and share of debts in collections. For example, in Arkansas credit card delinquency rate was 5%, and the median credit card debt was $407.
To maintain an excellent credit score it is vital to make timely payments. However, there are many circumstances that lead to late payments or debt in collections. The good news is that there are a lot of ways to deal with debt including debt consolidation and debt relief solutions.
